Gun use for hunting and target shooting is increasing in popularity. A critical component of a gun is a gun sight. Gun sights are vital for assisting the gun user in aiming the gun properly to avoid a stray shot. Gun sights are typically positioned at the front of the barrel or at a position away from the user, and the rear of the barrel or at a position near the user. The user aims at a target by aligning the front and rear gun sights relative to a target of interest.
Many guns employ a high visibility plug in their gun sights. These high visibility plugs are brightly colored and directly inserted into the gun sight blank. The high visibility plugs provide contrast and therefore the benefit of easy visualization under many types of conditions. These plugs are friction fitted within the gun sight blank with little or no adhesive. Such a fit requires very precise and consequently very expensive machining of the gun sight blanks, as well as the plugs, in order to ensure a proper and reliable fit. Should the tolerances of the machined gun sight blank be slightly off, or the adhesive not properly applied, the high visibility plug will not be installed properly and the finished gun sight will not be accurate. Moreover, these plugs often become loose over time from repeated firing of the gun and subsequently fall out of the gun sight blank.
To achieve the same contrasting effect, other conventionally known gun sights employ a luminescent fixture in place of a high visibility plug. The luminescent fixture may be comprised of a fluorescent material or other source of illumination, such as an incandescent bulb. Materials, such as tritium gas, are popular materials to use in gun sights as they are highly visible and do not require any external power source. Typically, a source of tritium gas is placed within a glass tube with a phosphor layer being disposed therebetween. However, these luminescent fixtures are placed deep within the gun sight blank with an intermediate piece of material being installed between the fixture and the eye of the user. This installation decreases the visibility, and consequently the overall effectiveness of the luminescent fixture.
The foregoing background describes some, but not necessarily all, of the problems, disadvantages and shortcomings related to current gun sight assemblies. There is a general and pervasive need in the field to provide a gun sight assembly that is reliable, not difficult to manufacture and install in a rifle or other firearm, does not impact the overall functionality of the firearm, and is cost effective.